Public Ivy and Party School

Introduction
The biggest advice I can give to a high school senior considering attending this great university is: research your major and have a back-up plan. If you are considering majoring in a science or becoming an engineer you should know that those colleges can at times feel like jobs, where you must work 8-10 hours a day to get by, while colleges like liberal arts are more easy going and usually instead of homework, you have major exams 2 or 3 times in a semester. Having a back-up plan is probably the most important asset you can take into school with you. I started as an engineer, then switched to business, then to liberal arts. It is hard for an 18 year old to know what they want to do the rest of thier life, just think how much you have changed since you were a freshmen in high school.

Campus Life and Social Life
There is a party for everyone. UT has a very diverse population. If you are the 'fratty' type there is West Campus. Freshmen have Jester (big dorm) parties. There is always a party on Riverside (lots of apartments) somewhere. And 6th Street is legendary.

The social life is great at UT. There is a giant Greek population. There are tons of intramural sports, for all talent levels. And it is impossible not to join a club, it even happens by accident. There are just so many clubs fighting for new members. There is a club for anything you can think of; College Republicans, University Dems, Socialists, Conservatives, Hellraisers, Texas Heat, Texas Ice Hockey, Texas Water Polo, Ultimate Frisbee, Sailing, Rowing, Scuba Diving, Rock Climbing, etc. If you like to do it, there is probably a club for it.

Weekends are spent usually sleeping late, studying, partying, and doing club activities. A lot of intramural sports like basketball and softball are played on weekends. Sunday nights are also a very good time to catch up on reading or homework for classes.

The student section at Football games is packed. DKR Memorial Stadium seats near 90,000 and I'd wager at least two-thirds of all students attend the games. The tickets are not expensive and can be included in your tuition. For an optional $60 added on to your tuition, you get unlimited access to all sports games. Including seeing the National Champion Football team, the National Champion baseball team, the Top-10 Girls and Boys basketball teams, and many other sports.

The student body loves to party at UT. Frat Parties happen every weekend, and 6th Street is always open. In 2003, Texas was the #1 party school in the nation. And it has not changed much since. Alcohol is plentiful but campus activists also go out of their way to make sure students are safe. There are free-ride services for students who drink to much to make it home, there is bus service in downtown Austin until 3 AM on weekends.

And if you are not the partying type, there are several activities for you to enjoy. The Texas Union has an underground bowling alley open until 3 AM with black-light bowling. The Union also features a movie theatre. There are several plays an Texas has an amazing band. The UT theatre department boasts alums like Mathew McConaughey. There are also lots of museums in and around campus, like the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. UT also has the LBJ Presidential Library which is very extensive. Advertisement
Academics
UT is one of the original Public Ivy's. In 1985 Richard Moll wrote a book describing the academics of America's top universitys. He coined the term "Public Ivy" to describe eight public universitys. The list included: College of William and Mary, Miami U (FL), U of California, U of Michigan, U of North Carolina, U of Vermont, U of Virginia and the University of Texas. He described these Universities as having Ivy League caliber academics while remaining public schools. The College Board recently named UT as one of the best value schools in the nation. At UT you get all the bang for less bucks. UT has several amazing colleges. The McCombs Business School is one of the top in the nation, along with Michigan. The Engineering school is second to none. The Petroleum Engineering program has 100% placement before graduating, meaning employers compete for the students with signing bonuses and high salaries. The Law School is one of the top in the country. The College of Liberal Arts offers over 100 different degree programs. And this is just the beginning. When you graduate and are looking for your first job, it is much easier when the interviewer sees University of Texas on your resume.

The Academics at UT earn all sorts of awards and high rankings, but this also means some schools are extremely tough. Engineering will take all of your time. Business school is extreme for freshmen, but gets easier as you go. The College of Liberal Arts is probably the easiest college at the university. And if business school is too tough for you, you can always minor in business. It involves six basic classes like accounting and marketing. There is only one hard class in that group and its Management Information Systems. The class involves a project and a "business fair" where you present your project. That class will own you for about a month. But afterwards you have a business minor to go with your UT diploma.

The professors at UT also earn high marks from reviewers and magazines for the most part. You will undoubtedly run into a horrible professor who is extremely anal and gives boring lectures, but for every one of him there are ten that will go out of their way to make sure you learn the material and enjoy doing it. Most are extremely understanding when it comes to missing class for a club activity or something like a friends wedding as long as you tell them in advance. Faculty schedule advisors will usually be able to tell you if a professor you are considering is a hard professor or not.

The TA's are another story. During my freshmen year I took Calculus 1 with a jolly old hippy as the professor. The TA however, was an exchange student from India. His name was Rohit. Needless to say I had a difficult time understanding him. TA's are really a crapshoot at Texas. Sometimes they are awesome, sometimes they are horrible. Thankfully there are ways to ditch a bad TA at the beginning of a semester. Most large classes, like a basic freshmen course in Calculus, will have a professor and 3-5 TA's. The class will mean with the professor for a lecture 2 times a week, and the TA on the 3rd class time. The TA sessions will usually be only about 15-20 students, while the lectures can be as many as 250 students.

Student Body
There are no "typical" students at UT. When you go to Freshmen Orientation before you begin the fall semester, you will hear non-stop about the amazing diversity at UT. And it's true. There are lots of Asians, Indians, and Middle Easterners at UT. Along with hispanics, blacks and caucasions. It is a giant cultural melting pot.

The student body is extremely left-leaning as are most college campuses. But it is not a bad situation for conservatives either.

The student body is for the most part very active and outgoing. Someone is always throwing a frisbee in front of the tower. There are several gyms on campus and I'll guarantee if you come visit UT you'll see someone jogging with an iPod in their ears and wearing shorts that are too short for them.

In Closing...
If you are a senior in high school, or a prospective transfer student, I hope I have not sounded like a salesman. When I first arrived at UT I hated it. The traffic on I-35 is horrible, and the classes can be hard. There are homeless people begging for money at lots of intersections. There is a "Keep Austin Weird Day" in the fall where all the hippies and the uber-tattooed come out for a festival. But Austin really does grow on you. The live music is awesome, the bars on 6th Street are awesome. You never get bored. The traffic is not so bad once you know how to get around. And I've made some friends for life, while at the same time getting a stellar education. I never thought I would like it, but now that I am a senior I do not want to leave.